Thursday, March 22, 2012

Painkillers may lead to Hypertension, High BP

A new study has suggested that some common ‘over-the-counter’ (OTC) medications such as painkillers may be an unseen and another cause of high blood pressure and hypertension.

Professor Ehud Grossman of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine has found the painkillers to be a basic cause of BP and hypertension in a recent study.

Normally a physician believes kidney failure and endocrine tumors to be reasons of high blood pressure. But the research revealed that painkillers may also lead to high BP and hypertension.

The research took into account all the OTCs like painkillers, birth control, anti-depressants, and antibiotics and found that all of these increased the blood pressure rate.

Actually the research gives more stress on the drug combination that is prescribed to a patient. More clearly, the individual drug may not harm that much but the side effect of the combination of the painkillers with other medications may result in serious health issues.

“Many physicians don’t account for this, and some don’t even know about it. It’s their responsibility to be informed and make sure that their patients are aware that this is a possibility,” says Prof. Grossman.

The researcher is of the opinion that the doctors should either decrease the amount of prescribed medications or should prescribe an anti-hypertensive medication along with the other OTCs.

There are several pros and cons of altering medications as per the finding of this study. But the researcher feels that by simply being aware of the effects of the drugs taken, patients and doctors can adjust the treatment so as to prevent hypertension and high blood pressure.

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